We've all heard the saying "every man has his price." There are people with money who think they can "buy" anyone. I once had someone try to buy me. He wanted his granddaughter baptized at a certain time and place. When I explained the parish's requirements, he responded by offering to pay me something to get around them. Even though as a young priest I had very little and could have used the money for something worthwhile, I did refuse. I also have to admit that what he offered me really wasn't that much. He wasn't just crooked; he was a cheapskate to boot!

But suppose he would have held out a million dollars and I quietly said "Okay." Could I ever have enjoyed that money? I think not. I may have done lots of things with it, helped the poor, bought a beautiful gift for my mom. But if she knew how it had come, she would have thrown it in the garbage. The money would always be tainted.

The devil is making that kind of deal with our young people every day. "I can show you an easy way to get money, sell drugs." Or "don't bother paying; if you want something in a store just slip it into your pocket. It's easy."

Now, Jesus was tempted by the devil too. "You're hungry. You have been fasting forty days. Look at these round stones. Don't they remind you of bread rolls? You have the power. Change them into food."

Each one of us will face that temptation this Lent. The Church requires all of us, fourteen years of age and older, to abstain from meat on the seven Fridays of Lent. As sure as I am standing here, every person here is going to face a choice like this: We have a delicious piece of fried chicken on the table in front of us. Then we remember it is Friday. The devil is going to say, “It's no big deal. Don't be legalistic. You can do something else for a penance. If you don't eat it, you might faint from hunger. It's a sin to let food go to waste."

It's a very small temptation, but when it comes we should remember Jesus' response: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." Jesus knew there was something more important in life than filling our stomachs.

We don't talk much about the sin of gluttony any more. It's not just eating till we burst; it can also mean demanding certain types of food. We're all familiar with the guy who looks down on anything his wife prepares. "This isn't like my mom's cooking." He may not overeat, but he is a glutton because he is always thinking about the food he enjoyed as a child. He doesn't understand that as we get old we lose some of our sense of taste so his wife could never make food that tastes like his mom's.

Now if we recognize what Jesus said, "Man does not live by bread alone," one of the signs is that we stop being so fussy. I remember when I was in Peru. I lived with a young Peruvian priest for about five years. Oftentimes I would fix a dinner for us in the evenings. I loved cooking for him because he enjoyed everything. Even if the pasta was overdone and the sauce was too salty, he would find something positive. "Um. These tomatoes are sure good." That should be our attitude toward food, a certain simplicity and gratitude.

That simplicity and gratitude would help us in our parish. Part of us forming one family is learning to enjoy each other's foods. I remember when I had my first bowl of menudo. I'd already eaten a few spoonfuls before someone told me what part of the animal I was eating--its stomach lining. I swallowed hard, but I kept eating. I have to admit it is now one of my favorite dishes. We can learn to enjoy each others' foods. Of course, we can also learn to not take it personally if the other person does not eat what we have prepared. After all: